Tesla shares rise to record levels as Trump wins election

Topline

Shares of Tesla rose 12% on Wednesday morning, pushing the company's stock to a new record, while Elon Musk's fortune grew by $15 billion after Donald Trump's re-election as president, heaping praise on the world's richest person became.

Trump praised Elon Musk as a “super genius” for his support throughout his campaign.

Important facts

Shares of Tesla rose above $280 around 10:10 a.m. EST, setting a new record for the stock and surpassing its previous high of $273.54 set on October 27.

Trump praised the Tesla CEO as a “super genius” and “new star” in his victory speech early Wednesday after Musk campaigned for Trump across Pennsylvania for weeks before Election Day.

Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives wrote earlier this year that a second Trump presidency would be “negative for the electric vehicle industry overall,” although the financial services firm also saw it as a “very positive for Tesla” because of the company's “size and reach” “This is unique” in the industry.

Trump's plan to impose tariffs on Chinese imports would also prevent Tesla's Chinese rivals BYD – which at the time overtook Tesla as the world's largest electric vehicle maker – and NIO from “flooding the U.S. market in the coming years,” Ives said.

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Forbes rating

Musk is the richest person in the world with a fortune worth $280.3 billion after his holding – which amounts to around 13% of Tesla shares outstanding – increased by $15 billion, according to our latest estimates .

Important background

Musk was one of Trump's more prominent supporters during his campaign. Tesla's CEO invested at least $118 million in his America PAC to support Trump, meaning Musk was Trump's second-largest supporter after Timothy Mellon. Musk's America PAC also gave away $1 million to voters in swing states in a sweepstakes that was briefly halted by a Philadelphia court. In September, Trump said he would create a “Government Efficiency Commission,” first proposed by Musk, who indicated he would lead the agency. During the election cycle, Musk appeared alongside Trump at several rallies and supported his campaign on social media. Trump has said he is a “big fan” of electric vehicles, although he said at a previous rally not to “worry about the electric vehicles” and claimed in a March interview that the vehicles “cost too much.” and all “made in China” would become China.”